Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Culture: Finance

lord porter of spalding: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have madetowards the introduction of a new cultural development fund; how that fund will support the Industrial Strategy's commitment to invest in the creative industries; and what consultation will take placewith local government about its development as one of the largest public funders of cultural investment.

lord ashton of hyde: The Conservative manifesto stated Government would introduce a Cultural Development Fund to use cultural investment to turn around communities, and we will set out further details in due course.

Department for Transport

London-Exeter Railway Line

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact ofthe stretches of single track railway on the Waterloo–Exeter mainline on the economy of south-western England.

baroness sugg: The Secretary of State for Transport has made no recent assessment of the impact of the stretches of single line track on the Waterloo – Exeter mainline on the economy of South-Western England. Network Rail’s Wessex Route Study concluded that the forecast levels of growth between Salisbury and Exeter did not justify the need for additional sections of double track.

London-Exeter Railway Line

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact ofthe stretches of single line track on the Waterloo–Exeter mainlineon train punctuality.

baroness sugg: The Secretary of State for Transport has made no recent assessment of the impact of the stretches of single line track on the Waterloo – Exeter mainline on train punctuality. Network Rail’s Wessex Route Study concluded that the forecast levels of growth between Salisbury and Exeter did not justify the need for additional sections of double track.

Monarch Airlines: Insolvency

lord risby: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which the ban on flights between the UK and Sharm El Sheikh contributed to the bankruptcy of Monarch Airlines.

baroness sugg: The reality is that there is intense price competition in the aviation market, particularly on low-cost short-haul routes operated by Monarch. I note that there are other airlines who used to fly from the UK to Sharm el Sheikh who are still in business. The security of British nationals is our top priority, and we took the decision to suspend flights from Sharm el Sheikh in 2015 to protect the travelling public.

London Airports

lord spicer: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement byLord Callanan on 24 October (HLWS196), whether they intend to publish a new critical path showing how they will address congestion at the five London airports.

baroness sugg: The Government has set out its preferred option for an additional runway in the South East, which will be required by 2030. However through the recent Aviation Strategy Call for Evidence the government has consulted on the proposal to support airports throughout the UK making the best use of their existing runways, subject to environmental issues being addressed and will respond in due course. Beyond this, a new Aviation Strategy will consider whether there is a need for a new framework to be developed to allow airports to grow sustainably, and if so what that framework should look like.

Network Rail: Assets

lord berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to require Network Rail to publish and maintain an up-to-date and accurate database of assets, including gauge clearances of its network, along the lines described in the Scottish Governments High Level Output Statement for Control Period 6.

baroness sugg: The independent Office of Rail and Road, as economic and safety regulator for the railway, is responsible for ensuring that Network Rail maintains and makes available an up-to-date and accurate asset register. This is enforced through condition 1 of the Network Licence. Government has no plans to impose a similar condition, as this would simply duplicate an existing requirement under the regulatory regime.

Transport: Standards

lord rosser: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to work with theEU to maintain common standards in transport following the UK's exit from the EU.

baroness sugg: The Prime Minister has set out her intention to seek a unique and ambitious economic partnership based on our rules and regulation being the same at the start, and on maintaining our commitment to free trade and high standards – while allowing for us both to make changes where we want to, in a stable and orderly way. This will be the approach for transport, as for other parts of the economic partnership.

Ministry of Justice

Sexual Harassment

lord porter of spalding: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the practice of up-skirting is treated as a public nuisance behaviour; and what consideration they have given to the case for characterising it as a sexual offence.

lord keen of elie: Depending on the individual circumstances and evidence available in each case, the Crown Prosecution Service will decide whether a prosecution should proceed and if so which specific offence should be charged. Upskirting has been successfully prosecuted under a range of existing criminal offences including the common law offence of outraging public decency. That offence carries an unlimited prison sentence. The Minister of State for Justice has asked for detailed advice on this issue before considering the case for a change in legislation.

Charter of Fundamental Rights (EU)

lord smith of finsbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to make provisions in order to ensure that the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights applies in the UK after Brexit; and if so, what provisions they intend to make.

lord keen of elie: The UK has a longstanding tradition of ensuring our rights and liberties are protected domestically and of fulfilling our international human rights obligations. The decision to leave the European Union does not change this. The Charter of Fundamental Rights was created by the EU as a means of cataloguing rights that already existed in EU law. These rights will be converted into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill at the point we exit the EU. In addition, many of the rights contained in the Charter are also protected in other international instruments, notably the European Convention on Human Rights, which is given further effect by the HRA 1998. The Government’s intention is that our domestic law will preserve the substantive rights from which individuals already benefit in the UK, and therefore it is not necessary to retain the Charter in UK law after exit.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Navy: Fisheries

lord lisvane: To ask Her Majesty's Government what fishery protection vessels they plan to have in service in UK territorial waters in April 2019.

lord gardiner of kimble: Defra is making a full assessment of the scale and volume of sea-based patrol capability required after we leave the EU with the Marine Management Organisation, Ministry of Defence, Royal Navy and other agencies. The Government has established a Joint Maritime Operational Coordination Centre to coordinate all sea-based patrol activity across marine agencies to derive maximum surveillance benefit.

Organic Farming

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, following the UK's withdrawal from theEU, they intend to maintain or amend the legal framework regulating organic farming.

lord gardiner of kimble: The Government’s intention is to maintain current organic legislation in the EU (Withdrawal) Bill which will convert the existing body of EU environmental and farming regulations into UK law. This Government has made clear that we intend to retain our existing standards once we have left the EU. Maintaining the legislation ensures continuity of production and trade for our organic operators.

Fisheries: Scotland

lord mackenzie of culkein: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have had discussions with the Scottish Government with a view to agreeing a joint policy on fisheriesin advance ofthe time when the UK leaves the EU and withdraws from the London Fisheries Convention.

lord gardiner of kimble: We are committed to working closely with the Scottish Government and the other devolved administrations to develop a future fishing policy that works for the whole of the UK. We will respect the devolution settlements and envisage that the powers of the devolved administrations will increase as we leave the EU.   There have been extensive discussions at Ministerial and official level between Defra and the devolved administrations, including the Scottish Government.   As part of this regular engagement, the Environment Secretary met the devolved administrations in September and will meet them again on 6 November.

Fisheries: Denmark

lord mackenzie of culkein: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have had discussions with the government of Denmark following the decision to withdraw the UK from the London Fisheries Convention and the Danish claim to have historical rights to fish in UK waters thatprecede the signing of the Convention.

lord gardiner of kimble: The UK Government has had no discussions with the government of Denmark about the London Fisheries Convention or Danish claims to have historical rights to fish in UK waters. Denmark does not have rights within the UK’s 6-12 mile zone which is the area covered under the London Convention, but does have access to the UK’s 12-200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone under the Common Fisheries Policy. The Government has been clear that when we leave the EU, the UK will be an Independent Coastal State and will be able to decide on access to UK waters.